This disclosure relates to collaborative processing of audio between a headset and a source of audio, and in particular for masking distracting noise.
Headphones allow a user to be immersed in their chosen audio material without disturbing those around them, whether used with a portable audio device, such as a smart phone, or a stationary audio source, such as a home theater system or desktop computer. Limitations in current solutions include interference by ambient noise with the user's ability to enjoy their chosen content, and interference by the content itself with the user's situational awareness—their ability to hear sounds in their environment that they should hear. Wearing headphones, particularly noise attenuating headphones, while listening to audio can also—if desired—provide masking to improve the wearer's isolation from distractions. Choice of headphone alone often does not give the user the ability to achieve the level of music and ability to hear (or not) their surroundings that they desire due, in part, to limitations in the signal processing that can be afforded in a headphone design. However, many personal audio players or other audio sources have excess computational capacity that might be applied to improve upon these experiences.